Kansas Heads South to Face Oklahoma

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas women’s basketball heads south for its final road contest of the 2014-15 regular season at Oklahoma Saturday, Feb. 28 at 7 p.m., inside the Lloyd Noble Center. KU’s final road trip marks the second weekend in a row to play in Oklahoma after traveling to Oklahoma State last weekend. The Jayhawks look to even the 2015 series against the Sooners with a victory away from Lawrence. The game will air on the Jayhawk Radio Network and on Sooner Sports TV.
 
ABOUT THE JAYHAWKS
Kansas concludes its 2014-15 regular season road schedule with the Sooners, as they look to even the season series with Oklahoma. In the first meeting of 2015 in Lawrence, OU walked away with a  57-69 victory in early January. The Jayhawks are hoping to snap a six-game losing streak after falling, 55-48, to in-state rival Kansas State on Feb. 25. Although KU didn’t take home the win, defensively, the Jayhawks swatted 11 shots, their most in a single game since deflecting 11 Texas A&M Corpus-Christi shots on Nov. 17, 2010. In addition, KU’s 54 rebounds are the most by a Kansas team since snatching 58 boards off the glass against TCU on Feb. 13, 2013. 
 
Senior forward Chelsea Gardner is averaging a team-high 16.4 points per game, the third-best average in the league, while shooting 52.7 percent from the field. Knight has stayed consistent for the Jayhawks connecting on 38.5 percent of her shots from beyond the arc. She is second on the team with 12.8 points and 3.9 assists per game. Senior guard Natalie Knight has scored in double figures in all but six games this year, while Gardner has posted 25 games this season with 10 or more points. Fellow classmate Asia Boyd follows Knight and Gardner on the roster with 10.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.
 
Freshmen guards Lauren Aldridge and Chayla Cheadle are making an impact in KU’s lineup averaging 7.8 and 5.6 points, respectively. Aldridge has started every game this season at point and is third in the conference in assists per game with 4.8. She has played the most minutes (1003) among the Jayhawks in 2014-15. Cheadle is connecting on 31.0 percent of her shots from long range. Sophomore forward Jada Brown is the final member of Kansas’ starting lineup. The Las Vegas, Nevada native is grabbing 2.7 rebounds per contest, which is sixth-best on the team. She is also averaging 1.9 points per game in 29 starts.
 
The Jayhawks are averaging 63.6 points per game with a +1.3 scoring margin over their opponents. KU is shooting 43.2 percent from the field, while holding its opponents to shooting 38.4 percent. Kansas has connected on 35.7 percent of its attempts from the three-point line, which is the second-best mark in the Big 12. The Jayhawks are averaging 35.9 rebounds, 14.2 assists, 6.0 steals and 4.5 blocks per game.
 
KANSAS FAST BREAKS
• Kansas women’s basketball had three student-athletes earn a spot on the 2015 Big 12 Academic All-Conference Teams. Sophomore Caelynn Manning-Allen was named to the first team, while sophomore Jada Brown and senior Natalie Knight were selected to the second team.
• Three or more Jayhawks have netted double-figure scoring performances in 20 of Kansas’ 29 games this season. KU had four reach double-digit scoring in three-straight games and in a total of eight contests. Senior forward Chelsea Gardner has scored 10 or more points in 25-of-29 games in 2014-15, while senior guard Natalie Knight has contributed double figures in all but six games this season. For the first time this season, Kansas had five players in double figures against Texas Tech (2/4).
• Kansas’ all-time record is 783-566 while the program has an all-time conference record of 241-261. Head coach Bonnie Henrickson is 342-232 all-time and 184-170 at KU.
• Gardner, a Preseason All-Big 12 selection, joined the 1,000-point club after scoring 24 points in the season opener against South Dakota (11/16). Knight also etched her name on to the list of Jayhawks to score over 1,000 points in their career this season. An 11-point performance vs. Texas (2/14) elevated her past the 1,000-point milestone. With Gardner and Knight both reaching the 1,000-point achievement, it marks the first time since 2012-13 that multiple Jayhawks have reached the 1,000-point milestone in the same season.
• Rookie Lauren Aldridge is one of two freshmen in the Big 12 Conference starting at the point guard position. The Marshfield, Missouri native is third in the league in assists per game with 4.8 and has dished out five or more assists in seven of her last 10 outings, including a career-best 10 assists at TCU (2/17).
 
SCOUTING THE Sooners
Oklahoma sits alone in second place in the Big 12 and is riding high into Saturday’s match up after knocking off conference-leader Baylor, 68-64, on Wednesday night. The Sooners boast a 12-4 record in the conference and are 18-9 overall. OU is looking to extend its win streak to three contests with a win over Kansas, as they have won back-to-back games against Kansas State and Baylor, which was the Lady Bears’  first Big 12 loss of the year.
 
Three Sooners are averaging in double figures with redshirt sophomore guard Peyton Little at the top averaging 13.4 points per game. The Abilene, Texas native posted an astounding 30 points in the win over the Wildcats. Following her is redshirt junior forward Kaylon Williams, who tallies 11.3 points and 6.6 rebounds per contest. Sophomore guard Gioya Carter is averaging 10.0 points, while senior guard Sharane Campbell is marginally away from a double-digit average with 9.9 points per game.
 
As a squad, Oklahoma averages 75.6 points per game, which is second in the league, behind a +6.9 scoring margin over its opponents. OU is shooting 44.6 percent from the field and 36.2 percent from long range, good for first in the Big 12. The Sooners average 38.3 rebounds, 14.8 assists and 8.0 steals per game.
 
SERIES BREAKDOWN
Record
Oklahoma leads the all-time series, 34-29, and is 15-10 in Norman.
 
Overview
Kansas hopes to snap a four-game losing streak against the Sooners. The last time KU defeated OU was in 2013, and the last win in Norman for the Jayhawks was in 2012.
 
Last Time Out
Kansas’ defense held the Sooners’ leading scorer, Sharane Campbell-Olds, to just four points and the Sooners were held to an under-average shooting percentage of 41 percent in the first meeting of 2015, but Oklahoma prevailed in Allen Fieldhouse with a 69-57 victory. KU’s senior duo of Natalie Knight and Asia Boyd led the Jayhawks’ offensive efforts with double-digit scoring performances. A late three-pointer by Knight diminished the Oklahoma lead to just six points, but time expired ending  KU’s late rally.
 
THE YOUNG AND RESTLESS
Kansas added four freshmen to the 2014-15 roster during the offseason and several are making an impact for the Jayhawks. Lauren Aldridge has started every game at point guard and is fourth on the team in scoring with 7.8 points per game. She has dished out five or more assists in eight of the last 11 games, including a personal-best mark of 10 at TCU (2/7). Aldridge has scored in double figures 11 times, including a season-high 16 at Oklahoma State (2/21). Chayla Cheadle is averaging 5.6 points per game and scored a career-high 19 points against Arkansas State (12/14), 16 of those coming in the final 20 minutes of play. Terriell Bradley is scoring 6.0 points per game. She came off the bench against Creighton (12/22) to net a career-high 21 points. She also recorded the second-best single-game three-point percentage after a perfect 5-for-5 from behind the arc against Iona (11/26).
 
A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN
Kansas has several players among the top of Big 12 statistical categories. Senior Chelsea Gardner is third in the league in scoring (16.4), fourth in rebounds (8.3) and fifth in field goal percentage (52.7). Gardner is third in the Big 12 in blocks per game (2.3). Senior Natalie Knight is third in the conference in three-point field goal percentage (38.5). Freshman Lauren Aldridge is No. 3 in assists per game (4.8). The Jayhawks are second in the league in three-point percentage (35.7) and are third in free throw percentage (72.2).
 
UP NEXT
The Jayhawks close out the regular season with Senior Night against Iowa State on Monday, March 2 at 7 p.m., inside Allen Fieldhouse. The home finale is the last chance to see Kansas in action at home during the 2014-15 season. The game will air on the Jayhawk Television and Jayhawk Radio Network.
 
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